With the imminent announcement of the new Dream Theater Drummer, I still reflect back to September last year where Mike Portnoy announced his resignation from the band.

I have been a big fan of Dream Theater for over 18 years, but I am also a huge fan Mike Portnoy.   I have a collection of Portnoy drumming DVD’s that feature his instructional techniques as well a biography of his career.   Along with Portnoy and other influential drummers such as Neil Peart and Gavin Harrison, this was enough inspiration for me to take up drumming and also to appreciate the art much more.

Portnoy’s departure came as a big shock to the fans as he was regarded as the most influential member.   Mike was the main public face of Dream Theater as well as promoting, managing and directing the band behind the scenes.   But the grind of writing, recording and touring for past 10 years straight had taken its toll on his creativeness with the band.   His suggestion that the band should take a hiatus to give the band name a break did not go down too well with his fellow members.

With the difference in opinions between the band and Portnoy, the decision was made to Part Company.   In my opinion this was a really disappointing decision as I felt that both band and Portnoy could have reached a compromise.

To maintain the bands integrity, I feel that Portnoy should have stayed on until the new album was completed.   The band could then look at a replacement or stand in drummer to tour with them while Portnoy has his hiatus from the band.   If Portnoy decides not to rejoin the band on the next recording, then the new drummer who has had exposure during touring could have by then established a strong relationship with the fans.

Dream Theater’s new album is due out soon featuring the new drummer which will provide a lot of mixed emotions for me and most fans of the band.   Yes I am excited about the prospect but I am also saddened that the new album will have a different feel and vibe to it without Portnoy’s influence.

Mike Mangini has been announced via Road Runner Records Youtube Channel as the new Dream Theater drummer.

View the auditioning and selection process by clicking on the episode numbers.

Dream Theater – The Spirit Carries On Episode 1, 2 and 3

I don’t usually get excited about video games, hell I can barely play any game for longer than an half hour before losing interest but Portal is different.   Portal challenges your mind but at the same time making you laugh as you go.

The game has two modes, a single player and a coop player mode.

Single player mode continues on the same vane as the original game.   You begin by going through a series of test chambers learning about Portal dynamics before being thrusted into more open world situations.   The puzzles to get past each section gets more intrinsic the further you go but the satisfaction of clearing these sections makes up for the frustrations you can go through in trying to solve them.

The Coop mode introduces another fantastic dimension to this game by adding a friend into the puzzle mix.   None of levels can be solved by one sole player, both players must contribute to advance further in to the game.   The achievement of solving a chamber together gives you great satisfaction however for some comic relief you could always put your partner into some compromising positions.

The game was recently reviewed on the ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) TV show Good Game where it received rave reviews and got a perfect rating score.

Good Game review here http://www.abc.net.au/tv/goodgame/video/default.htm?src=/tv/goodgame/video/xml/20110426_2030.xml&item=07

I say hats off to Valve and the creators of Portal for producing one of the best games of all time.   Now I just wish that Valve could give us some details on the upcoming Half Life 2 Episode 3 game.

The Port Adelaide Football Club has reached an all time low by losing to the new kids on the block the Gold Coast Suns. After leading by 40 points half way through the third quarter it seemed that Port would go on to win an easy game but Gold Coast had other ideas and out played Port in the final quarter to score a history making win.

What made this loss even more embarrassing was the fact that Gold Coast has lost its first few games by an average of 90 points and was set to be the whipping boys of the competition for 2011. It is becoming apparent that Port are creating history as their club song implies “There’s history here in the making” but for all the wrong reasons.

In 2007, Port Adelaide had a fantastic season finishing second in the minor round behind Geelong and defeated Geelong at their home ground in round 21 in a fantastic game of football. The two clubs would once again face off in the 2007 AFL Grand Final where Geelong would go on to win by a record winning margin of 119 points, an AFL grand final record.

This was a dark day in the clubs long history and for many it was an absolutely forgettable result but this result has hinted at the fragile nature of the playing group representing the club. Since then the playing group has been dishing up inconsistent results with far too many thrashings in between, but the most disappointing games were the ones that we had total control but capitulated when the opposition challenges.

It is difficult to determine the fault but since the glorious 2004 premiership it seems the mass changes in playing personnel, coaching staff and board members may have destabilised the club to the point of no recovery. Adding to the current financial crisis and poor crowd attendances, it now seems that future success of the club is looking grim.

To Ports credit they have been trying to boost the appeal of the club with a new Guernsey design, a change in the senior coach and the unification of the Port Magpies as one club but unfortunately this has not improved crowd attendances and not gained any significant corporate sponsorship. Port can always rely on their die hard supporters of 20,000 but this is not enough to get them out of their financial woes.

AFL is a business and money means success, if you don’t have the funds then you don’t get the success. The biggest battle for the club is to become more financially viable and profitable so that they can buy the success by hiring the right coaching staff and trade and draft the best players possible. Unfortunately the club is nowhere near a good financial position to progress forward.

It seems that we are going face some lean times for the next five years, on and off the field and the long term survival of the club is certainly at risk. Even the proposed move to Adelaide Oval will not help this club in my opinion as the club is struggling to attract new members and spectators.

The only saving grace is the next generation of football followers and building a foundation to get these fans to become members is critical for long term financial stability. This may take 5 to 10 years for this to occur so for now we are at the mercy of the AFL and SANFL for their continued financial support.

This is a trailer to the new documentary of the life, the career and death of Ayrton Senna one of the greatest racing drivers of all time.   This is a must see for anyone who interested motorsport or sport in general.

Adelaide played a small part in Senna’s history when in 1993, Senna won his last race at the Australian Grand Prix.   A memorial still remains at the Senna Chicane at the Adelaide Park Lands Street Circuit.

Well it has been nearly two weeks since I trekked off to Melbourne for my first Formula 1 Grand Prix weekend event and what can I say???   It was bloody brilliant and worth every cent.   Not even the terrible weather could quell my spirits as I have been waiting in anticipation since late 2010, when I made the commitment to purchase tickets.

Day 1 Thursday was spent walking around the track looking at the side attractions and displays.   An opportunity in the afternoon to do a pit walk through the V8 Supercars and then the Formula 1 garages was eagerly taken.   Viewing the V8′s up close was really interesting as cars were being worked on after a practice session was completed.   Having had previous experience up close with these cars, I chose not to stay too long and continued moving forward to the F1 garages.

The sight of F1 cars up close was awe inspiring, some cars where completely dismantled and looking nothing like you would expect to see.   The disappointing part of this walk was the distance away you were from the garages and the wall of people you had to push through to get a view, so seeing these cars up close was near impossible.   That was until some dude tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to step aside.   Step aside for what I wonder?   It was the Torro Rosso car of Jaime Alguersuari being pushed from scrutineering to the pit garage.   It just about ran over me as the race crew was heading back to their garage.   I was giddy with excitement as I was in touching distance on one of the most amazing machines ever created, even though it was made by a lowly ranked team.

The rest of walk involved taking as many pictures as possible and hopefully run in to a driver or two but unfortunately that never eventuated.   Finally it was time to call it day at the track and enjoy the other great features of Melbourne by attending the MCG for the first game of the 2011 AFL season where 64,000 plus fans watched Carlton defeat Richmond.

Day 2 Friday, finally the day has come to see these cars on the track and at pace and I was not disappointed.   I had a reserve seat at turn one in the Brabham stand but rather sit in my allocated seat, I took the advantage of standing at the back row to get a great view of the cars approaching and leaving turn 1.   What stood out with F1 cars compared to the other categories is the sheer acceleration from the apex to the exit of the corner.   From my perspective, racing cars like the V8 Supercars you can only really notice the speed but not the acceleration.   With F1 cars you can clearly see the rate of acceleration from slow to fast and it is incredible.   The next thing that is noticeable is the noise of the cars.   Initially I thought I could tough it out without wearing ear plugs but after practice one, I thought better and invested in some ear plugs.

After practice one had finished the local hero Mark Webber finished with the quickest time to the applauds and cheers of the crowd.   As a self confessed Webber fan, I was chuffed by the result and hopeful of a strong performance by “Australia’s Own” in upcoming qualifying and the race.

With ear plugs inserted, practice two was underway.   This time I took more notice on what the teams and drivers were actually doing rather than watch the cars as a spectacle.   A lot of the teams made long race simulated runs with full fuel and experimented with the different Pirelli option tyres.   Mclaren appeared to have found improvements in their car after a dicey off season test period with both their drivers registering the quickest time for the session.

The final event of the day was the first of three races of the V8 Supercars.   Typically this track doesn’t suit the V8 brand as the cars appeared pedestrian compared to the F1’s.   The race wasn’t too interesting either as none of the Ford teams other than Alex David(who?)son made a contest out of it.   I opted to leave early with a few laps remaining and head to the MCG again for the big game between St Kilda and Geelong.

Day 3 Saturday, a couple things I noticed as I made my way to the track.   One, doesn’t the sun exist in Melbourne? And two, why has the GP organisers all of a sudden become anal about opening the gates on time?

Anyway enough of that, it is time to get serious as it is qualifying day.   This time I will be situated on the opposite side of the track at turn 9 in the Clark stand.   Not a bad location as you are pretty close to the track but unfortunately you don’t have a clear view with a debris catch fence in front of you.

But before qualifying, we have practice 3 to sit through.   Now we will see which teams and drivers are on the mark and as it turns out it’s not Mark Webber.   It is his team mate Sebastian Vettle with an ominous time gap between himself and Mark.   So much so it left Mark baffled as he closely looked at his team mates car for differences in setup.

It’s qualifying time and the first pole to be awarded for the new season.  Qualifying 3 featured the usual suspects but with one difference.   The gap between pole time and the rest, Sebastian Vettle blitzed the field to stick his car on the front row by nearly 8 tenths of a second (an eternity in F1 time), followed by a determined Lewis Hamilton in second spot.   Mark Webber narrowly missed out on making an all Red Bull front row and he will start from the second row in third position.

The second V8 race produced one of the most inspirational drives by a driver named Jason Richards.   Jason, who is suffering from a rare form of cancer, led most of race until he was overrun by Garth Tander.   His efforts received a resounding ovation from crowd during the slow down lap at the end of the race.

So far three days of action and loving every minute of it, now time to head to the Crown Casino and partake in my second favourite interest, Poker and no I did not see Brendan Fevola there…

Race Day Sunday, This is it, the crescendo of the weekend.   One and half hours of cars racing to the bitter end for points and glory…..well a trophy and a bottle of champagne to spray everywhere.   My pole position is back at turn one, this time in the Jones stand on the opposite side to where I sat Friday.   Once again I have a caged view with the fence in my sight line but that is okay, I am at turn 1 at the race start of an F1 Grand Prix, the first race of the 2011 season.

But first things first, the third and final V8 supercar race to watch and finally there is some carnage.   Not where I am sitting of course but with the big screen TV’s meant I didn’t miss a thing.   It seemed that Rick Kelly and Craig Lowndes have had an altercation that caused a chain reaction of accidents.   This in turn caused Steven Johnson’s car to be converted to a V8 Supertrike.   After that I lost interest in the result as I had been at the Clispal 500 the week earlier and I was all V8 Supercarred out.   I think Whincup ended up winning the race but who cares, bring on the F1’s!!!!!   On a side note, the celebrity race was pitiful and boring as usual.

Finally the F1’s begin to grid up and I felt like Quagmire from Family Guy, “giggidy giggidy goo” in anticipation of the race start and what could happen in front of me at turn 1.   The tension rises, the lights go out, then the noise of 22 of the finest cars approach turn 1, enter, leave and then out of site.   There were no first corner incidents but the noise of 22 F1 cars in one spot was enough to savour.

The race began to settle pretty quickly with Vettle upfront leading Hamilton and Webber.   The early battle was between Massa and Button, with Massa defending aggressively.   Vettle pulled a gap and was never troubled.   Hamilton did close in at one stage but incurred damage with the under tray and lost touch with the leader.   The surprise of the race is the Russian driver Petrov, not fan favourite last year but with a new season, a new slate and an impressive result, he has received much needed respect for his efforts.

Webber had a disappointing race and struggled to keep up with the front runners.   He never seemed to be on the pace and lost places during the pitstops.  In the end he would finish 5^th pulling short at the pit exit after the end of the race.

The race did not reach any great heights but for my first grand prix weekend it was sensational and I will look forward to do it again next year.

Photos of my trip can be located here.